“In a nutshell, while many oligarchs are extremely wealthy (or have access to extreme wealth), not all people with extreme wealth are oligarchs. The term oligarch is reserved for those with extreme wealth who also want to control the political process, policy levers and most other aspects of the lives of the citizenry in a top-down tyrannical and undemocratic manner. They think they know best about pretty much everything, and believe unelected technocrats who share their worldview should be empowered so that they can unilaterally make all of society’s important decisions. The unwashed masses (plebs) in their minds are unnecessary distractions who must be told what to do. Useless eaters who need to be brainwashed into worshipping the oligarch mindset, or turned into apathetic automatons incapable or unwilling to engage in critical thought. Either outcome is equally acceptable and equally encouraged.”

With that out of the way, Five-Thirty-Eight provided the following:

“Eighty people hold the same amount of wealth as the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people, according to an analysis just released from Oxfam. The report from the global anti-poverty organization finds that since 2009, the wealth of those 80 richest has doubled in nominal terms — while the wealth of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population has fallen.”

There you have it. The reason the wealth of the richest has doubled since 2009 is because “it’s not a recession, it’s a robbery.” Central bank and government policy have done this, it is no accident.

For more evidence…

“Four years earlier, 388 billionaires together held as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world. Thirty-five of the 80 richest people in the world are U.S. citizens, with combined wealth of $941 billion in 2014. Together in second place are Germany and Russia, with seven mega-rich individuals apiece. The entire list is dominated by one gender, though — 70 of the 80 richest people are men. And 68 of the people on the list are 50 or older.”

Oxfam notes that global wealth inequality is increasing while the rich get richer. If trends continue, the organization projects that the richest 1 percent of people will have more wealth than the remaining 99 percent by 2016.

Now here’s the list (in billions):

1 Bill Gates $76 USA Tech

2 Carlos Slim Helu $72 Mexico Telecom

3 Amancio Ortega $64 Spain Retail

4 Warren Buffett $58 USA Finance

5 Larry Ellison $48 USA Tech

6 Charles Koch $40 USA Diversified

7 David Koch $40 USA Diversified

8 Sheldon Adelson $38 USA Entertainment

9 Christy Walton $37 USA Retail

10 Jim Walton $35 USA Retail

11 Liliane Bettencourt $35 France Product

12 Stefan Persson $34 Sweden Retail

13 Alice Walton $34 USA Retail

14 S. Robson Walton $34 USA Retail

15 Bernard Arnault $34 France Luxury

16 Michael Bloomberg $33 USA Finance

17 Larry Page $32 USA Tech

18 Jeff Bezos $32 USA Retail

19 Sergey Brin $32 USA Tech

20 Li Ka-shing $31 Hong Kong Diversified

21 Mark Zuckerberg $29 USA Tech

22 Michele Ferrero $27 Italy Food

23 Aliko Dangote $25 Nigeria Commodities

24 Karl Albrecht $25 Germany Retail

25 Carl Icahn $25 USA Finance

26 George Soros $23 USA Finance

27 David Thomson $23 Canada Media

28 Lui Che Woo $22 Hong Kong Entertainment

29 Dieter Schwarz $21 Germany Retail

30 Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud $20 Saudi Arabia Finance

31 Forrest Mars Jr. $20 USA Food

32 Jacqueline Mars $20 USA Food

33 John Mars $20 USA Food

34 Jorge Paulo Lemann $20 Brazil Drinks

35 Lee Shau Kee $20 Hong Kong Diversified

36 Steve Ballmer $19 USA Tech

37 Theo Albrecht Jr. $19 Germany Retail

38 Leonardo Del Vecchio $19 Italy Luxury

39 Len Blavatnik $19 USA Diversified

40 Alisher Usmanov $19 Russia Extractives

41 Mukesh Ambani $19 India Extractives

42 Masayoshi Son $18 Japan Telecom

43 Michael Otto $18 Germany Retail

44 Phil Knight $18 USA Retail

45 Tadashi Yanai $18 Japan Retail

46 Gina Rinehart $18 Australia Extractives

47 Mikhail Fridman $18 Russia Extractives

48 Michael Dell $18 USA Tech

49 Susanne Klatten $17 Germany Cars

50 Abigail Johnson $17 USA Finance

51 Viktor Vekselberg $17 Russia Metals

52 Lakshmi Mittal $17 India Metals

53 Vladimir Lisin $17 Russia Transport

54 Cheng Yu-tung $16 Hong Kong Diversified

55 Joseph Safra $16 Brazil Finance

56 Paul Allen $16 USA Tech

57 Leonid Mikhelson $16 Russia Extractives

58 Anne Cox Chambers $16 USA Media

59 Francois Pinault $16 France Retail

60 Iris Fontbona $16 Chile Extractives

61 Azim Premji $15 India Tech

62 Mohammed Al Amoudi $15 Saudi Arabia Extractives

63 Gennady Timchenko $15 Russia Extractives

64 Wang Jianlin $15 China Real Estate

65 Charles Ergen $15 USA Telecom

66 Stefan Quandt $15 Germany Cars

67 Germán Larrea Mota Velasco $15 Mexico Extractives

68 Harold Hamm $15 USA Extractives

69 Ray Dalio $14 USA Finance

70 Donald Bren $14 USA Real Estate

71 Georg Schaeffler $14 Germany Product

72 Luis Carlos Sarmiento $14 Colombia Finance

73 Ronald Perelman $14 USA Finance

74 Laurene Powell Jobs $14 USA Entertainment

75 Serge Dassault $14 France Aviation

76 John Fredriksen $14 Cyprus Transport

77 Vagit Alekperov $14 Russia Extractives

78 John Paulson $14 USA Finance

79 Rupert Murdoch $14 USA Media

80 Ma Huateng $13 China Tech

I didn’t provide this list to say whether these people are good or bad. I provide it because whenever 80 people own as much as the poorest 50% of the globe, we sure better know who they are. We should also be cognizant of the disproportionate influence any of them can have on public affairs should they want to.

Recommended: For a look at what some people do with the money they squeeze out of the rest of us, see THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, Martin Scorsese’s brilliant film about greed. Not for the very young or faint of gizzard. For an equally brilliant analysis of the fix we’re in read Nancy Turner Banks’ extraordinary AIDS, OPIUM, DIAMONDS AND EMPIRE, The Deadly Virus of International Greed. Banks is an African American doctor who cares about the patients many on the planet already are, or are doomed to become.